The potential of psychological connectedness: Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 through sense of community and community resilience

The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of relationships connecting sense of community (SOC) and community resilience with psychological wellbeing, via the mediation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impacts on life domains. Survey data were collected from an international sample of adults (n = 824) during the COVID-19 outbreak (June-September 2020). Using a structural equation model, we tested a mediation model to identify the associations between SOC and community resilience with the perceived impacts of the emergency situation and with psychological wellbeing. Results revealed that SOC mitigated the impacts of COVID-19 on multiple life domains, and it was also positively associated with wellbeing. Community resilience was correlated with SOC and wellbeing but showed no significant relationship with COVID-19 impacts. The findings support that SOC has a protective function and can contribute to mitigating the impacts of difficult life situations. SOC can also be leveraged as an intervention aimed at protecting the wellbeing of people and communities, particularly in times of crisiss